Minox ARGON BROCHURE

INNOVATIONS
IN BINOCULAR ENGINEERING (III)

MINOX GmbH •Walter-Zapp-Str. 4 •D-35578 Wetzlar •Tel.: [phone] / 917-0 •Fax: [phone] / 917-612 •www.minox.com

Minox information order number: 99270

Heussinger Grafik Design, Solms

S

UPER

G

AS PROTECTS AGAINST

M

ICRO-CORROSION ANDAGEING

In the stated 400 year old history of the binocular, it has only become
known in recent times that cold to hot temperature changes alter the
humidity inside the body and lens assembly of the binocular. This can be
reduced when binoculars are manufactured in special climatic rooms, free
of dust.To help reduce the remaining humidity, some manufacturers fill the
inside of binoculars with pure Nitrogen.

The research and development department of MINOX has succeeded in
continuing to develop this technology and to guarantee long-term anti­fogging, plus avoiding corrosion inside the binocular.

All new MINOX binoculars are now being filled with the super gas Argon.
Unlike Nitrogen, Argon basically does not have any chemical reaction.
This positive feature has been used for many years by manufacturers of
household and industrial light bulbs and fluorescent tubes, as the addition
of Argon to the filler gas allows much higher temperatures and conse­quently provides higher efficiency.Another major advantage of Argon over
Nitrogen is the non-absorption of water molecules.This means that optical
and mechanical components inside the binoculars are protected against
fogging, corrosion and ageing for much longer periods than previously
achieved.

A further positive property of Argon is the slower rate of diffusion, based
on the larger size of Argon atoms compared with Nitrogen molecules
(71 pm compared with 174 pm).This feature and the fact that MINOX uses
specially compacted aluminium for the body material, as against porous
plastic in common use with some other binocular brands, guarantees that
the super gas with its large molecules remains inside the binocular much
longer than is the case with Nitrogen.

Argon (Ar) is a gas that is free of colour and smell at room temperature. It is heavier than air.
As with all respected super gases, Argon is almost inert in the atmosphere. Argon, because of its
properties, is a very rare element on earth. One litre air contains only 9.3 ml argon (0.93 volume
percent).

The fact that material property and gaseous filler have a decisive impact
on quality,functionality and service life is also well known to the company,
Sinn, the renowned manufacturer of exquisite aviator watches. As
innovative leader Sinn has always relied on Argon as filling gas for its
chronographs. For the first time ever MINOX is applying this increased
functional value to its binoculars, which underlines its continuous efforts
to provide even greater quality benefits to the end user.

Removing the air from the
binocular creates a vacuum
which can then be filled with
Argon gas.